October 31, 2007

Kick in the Pants

He lost his $54 million lawsuit against a Northeast Washington dry cleaner, and now Roy Pearson Jr. has lost his job, The Washington Post reports. A judicial committee voted last week against extending Pearson a 10-year term at the Office of Administrative Hearings, and yesterday, the (former) judge was unceremoniously cast out of his office, sources tell the Post.

The panel had a seven-page letter hand-delivered to Pearson about 3:30 p.m., directing him to leave his office by 5 p.m. Pearson's term ended in May, at the height of his battle with the dry cleaners. Since then, he has remained on the payroll, making $100,000 a year as an attorney adviser.

The lawsuit, of course, was over a pair of pants that Pearson brought in for $10.50 worth of alterations. But, according to the sources, the suit barely factored into his dismissal, unless taken as evidence of Pearson’s personality, which grated on his colleagues, apparently. He was criticized for acting “combative” toward his bosses and peers, and for ignoring policies in drafting opinions.

You’ll recall that in August we wrote about Pearson’s bumpy two-year tenure on the court. Just three months into the gig, Pearson sent a 14-page letter to then-Mayor Anthony Williams urging him “to inquire into whether corrupt ethics, demonstrably poor judgment and failed leadership constitute good cause” to remove Chief Administrative Law Judge Tyrone Butler, Pearson’s boss. The letter flowed from a minor misunderstanding over the starting date and length of Pearson’s term.

Fourteen pages of invective over a start date. Fifty four million dollars over a pair of pants. Sounds like someone has anger issues -- and now, employment issues. Go figure.